The London Guantánamo has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Human rights for all.

Friday, January 31, 2014

Following the release from Guantánamo Bay of
nine prisoners in December 2013, bringing the number of remaining prisoners to
155 in total, Barack Obama has been continuing slowly with his stated plans to
close the prison.

Just one day before Guantánamo’s 12th
anniversary, a periodic prisoner status review cleared a Yemeni prisoner,
Mahmoud Mujahid, 33, held indefinitely without charge or trial for over 12
years, for release. He was one of almost 50 prisoners previously considered too
dangerous to release but without enough evidence to charge. The 6-member panel
found him that he “no longer posed a continuing significant
threat to the US.” However, the
news that he can be released is not necessarily positive as he now joins the
ranks of dozens of other Yemeni prisoners cleared for release, found to pose no
threat to the US, but who remain there nonetheless. Considering the country
too dangerous to release prisoners to in 2010, Barack Obama imposed a
moratorium preventing Yemeni prisoners from being released there, but lifted it
in May 2013. Nonetheless, not a single one of the 60+ Yemeni prisoners who are
cleared for release have been sent home since.

However, the Guantánamo hunger strike which
reaches its first anniversary on 6 February is still ongoing, with over 30
prisoners reported to be taking part, including British resident Shaker Aamer.

On 28 January, a second periodic prisoner status
review was held, only the second in the past 3 years, and this time a whole 19
minutes of the proceedings were made accessible to the public via a video relay
before going into a closed session hearing. The public were able to see but did
not hear Abdel Malik Ahmed Abdel Wahab al-Rahabi, a 34-year
old Yemeni, who the US accuses of being an Al Qaeda member.

Contrary to earlier reports in the Canadian
media that Omar Khadr was to be moved imminently to a medium-security prison
following his reclassification as a medium-security prisoner, his lawyer,
Dennis Edney, has confirmed that there are no immediate plans to move him and
he remains in a maximum-security prison in Edmonton. It was reported that he
would be moved to the Bowden Correctional Facility but while that is still on the
cards, he will remain where he is for the foreseeable future.

On 22 January, the fifth anniversary of Barack
Obama signing a decree to close Guantánamo by 21 January 2010, 31 retired US
army personnel wrote a letter to him calling on him to close Guantánamo; the
signatories include formal generals and admirals. They stated in their letter: “Guantanamo does not serve America’s interests. As long as it remains
open, Guantanamo will undermine America’s security and status as a nation where
human rights and the rule of law matter.” The signatories had also stood behind Barack Obama when he signed the
decree which has long been broken. Barack Obama’s administration continues to
blame Congress for much of the delay in releasing prisoners.

The American Psychological
Association (APA) has refused to pursue any disciplinary measures against one
of its members, John Leso, a former army major reserve, for his involvement in
the brutal torture of former Saudi Guantánamo prisoner Mohamed Al-Qahtani, who
had charges dropped against him and was subsequently released once the brutal
way in which the evidence had against him had been obtained. The APA did not
deny his involvement, in a letter concluding a year-long investigation it
carried out, even though he acted in breach of professional ethics.

Pre-trial hearings in the case of 5 prisoners
alleged to have been involved in the 11 September 2001 attacks that were suspended
for a year pending a mental health assessment of one of the defendants may
resume earlier than that after it was reported that Ramzi Bin Al-Shibh has
refused to undergo an assessment. Al-Shibh was supposed to meet the
three-member panel in early January but declined, saying he was unable to. A
hearing is scheduled for next month but it is unclear if Al-Shibh is one of the
defendants involved.

A Washington Post report on 23 January claims that the CIA paid
the Polish authorities $15 million in cash to run secret torture facilities for
it. This money was given to Polish intelligence counterparts and formed
the basis of an agreement signed between the two countries to run torture camps
in Poland. The report documents the process of setting up the secret prison,
the transfer of prisoners there from other countries, through extraordinary
rendition, and the torture they faced, including waterboarding.

In response, a former Polish intelligence chief, Marek
Siwiec, who headed Poland's National Security Bureau from 1997 to 2004,
during the period in which the CIA operated its jail, said that it is time for
Poland to come clean on its involvement and has called for a thorough
investigation. He claims that he never knew about the torture facilities when
he was in charge.

Following information published in the incomplete Detainee Inquiry
report in December, police in Scotland will be asked to investigate the
possible use of Scottish airports at Glasgow and Prestwick for torture flights.

An American punk band, Skinny Puppy, who discovered that their music was
used on at least four occasions to torture prisoners at Guantánamo Bay has come
up with a novel way of protesting the unauthorised use: they decided to send
the US government an invoice for its use, but instead of mailing it, they have
made it the cover of their album, Weapon: “We
had a cool concept on the record because we heard through a reliable grapevine
that our music was being used in Guantanamo Bay prison camps to musically stun
or torture people. We heard that our music was used in at least four occasions.
We thought it would be a good idea to make an invoice to the U.S. government
for musical services, thus the concept of the record title, Weapon.”How
did the band feel about this use of their music? “Not
too good. We never supported those types of scenarios. It's kind of typical
that we thought this would end up happening, in a weird way. Because, we make
unsettling music we can see it being used in a weird way. But it doesn't sit
right with us.”

Following a refusal by the Lithuanian public prosecution services to
investigate allegations of running torture facilities for the CIA, involving current
Guantánamo prisoner Mustafa Al-Hawsawi, a higher court has overruled this
decision and called for an investigation, following an appeal by human rights
organisations.

The LGC marked the 12th
anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo Bay with a demonstration attended by
over 250 people from across England in Trafalgar Square on 11 January. A visual
display, creating a wall of orange and white banners, outside the National
Gallery protested the continued operation of Guantánamo and speakers raised
important points about the issues, including a lawyer and several politicians. Messages
of support were also read out.

Our next monthly demo
on 6 February will be a special demonstration with a candlelight vigil and
spoken word to mark not only the seventh anniversary of our regular protests
outside the embassy but also the first anniversary of the Guantánamo hunger
strike on the same day. For this reason, the vigil has been moved to the
evening – be sure to join us!

Thursday
6th February marks the seventh anniversary
of the London Guantánamo Campaign’s regular demonstrations outside the US
Embassy in London. Since February 2007, we have held weekly (until August 2008)
and then monthly demonstrations outside the US Embassy calling for the closure
of Guantánamo Bay, other similar prisons like it, such as Bagram in
Afghanistan, and justice for the prisoners. We will continue until Guantánamo
closes.

The LGC
invites you to join us at a candle light vigil with spoken word. We are
inviting the public to join us in a reading of prisoner poetry – from
Guantánamo and elsewhere – and to contribute their own in an evening of
remembrance and solidarity.

Sunday, January 12, 2014

More than 250 people from across England joined a
demonstration on Saturday 11 January outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar
Square to mark the twelfth anniversary of the opening of the extralegal prison
camp at Guantánamo Bay and to call for its closure.

After 12 years, 155 prisoners remain held there, almost
wholly without charge or trial, and many have been engaged for almost one year
in a hunger strike against their ongoing arbitrary detention and conditions of detention.
The hunger strike has prompted Obama to remember his broken promise to close
the prison in 2009, yet his recent actions remain half-hearted and insincere.
Most of the nine prisoners he released in December 2013 – to Algeria and
Slovakia – remain in a precarious situation and the periodic reviews of
prisoner status are progressing slowly; these could see prisoners held
indefinitely cleared for release. Barack Obama could show real
commitment to closing Guantánamo by immediately releasing Shaker Aamer to the
UK, a country the US has a “special relationship” with, and the over 50 Yemeni
prisoners who have been cleared for release for years. Yemenis make up the
largest nationality at Guantánamo Bay. Obama placed a moratorium on returns
there in 2010 preventing the release of prisoners; although he lifted this in
May 2013, not a single Yemeni has been returned home.

The demonstration started with a photo shoot, creating a
wall of banners with a bright orange motif outside the National Gallery to highlight the ludicrous fact that
this legal anomaly has existed for 12 years and continues to function with the blessing
of the international community and the powers that be worldwide.

The demonstration brought together politicians and activists
against the prison camp. Speakers at the demonstration included politicians MP
Jeremy Corbyn (Labour: Islington North), Tony Clarke (Green Party) and Sarah
Ludford MEP (Liberal Democrat: London) and activists from NGOs such as Katie
Taylor from Reprieve, who read out a statement by their client Shaker Aamer,
and Noa Kleinman from Amnesty International. The LGC, a grassroots campaign, was
joined by speakers from some of the grassroots organisations it works with,
such as Ben Griffin from Veterans for
Peace UK, Lindi Carter from WISE Up for
Chelsea Manning and Joy Hurcombe from the Save Shaker Aamer Campaign, as
well as solicitor Louise Christian, who represented 4 British nationals held at
Guantánamo Bay and Yemeni peace activist Muna Othman.

Before the end of the demonstration, Aisha Maniar and Val
Brown read out messages of support from Norman Baker MP and Jean Lambert MEP,
which can be read below. Val Brown also read out a message of support from
former prisoner Omar Khadr.

The LGC supports all victims of injustice and campaigns against
illegal prisons and torture elsewhere, particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The demonstration was joined by the wife and daughter of Shawki Ahmed Omar, an
American-Jordanian who was arrested in Iraq in 2004 along with his wife, who is
Iraqi, and has been subject to torture at Camp Nama, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere;
he was convicted in 2010 in an unfair trial and the Iraqi authorities last year
told his family he will not be released when he has finished his sentence. His
8-year old daughter Zainab, who has never met her father, spoke courageously about
how much she would like to meet him. You can read about his shocking story
here:

A cold but sunny afternoon, a wide range of people joined to
show their solidarity, and outside the National Gallery, the LGC also had a
display of artwork by some of the prisoners, as well as plenty of chanting
calling for Guantánamo to close. The response from passers-by was largely positive
and supportive. Many tourists visiting London expressed their solidarity. Given
the almost blanket lack of coverage in the media, many people did not know it
was the anniversary.

The London Guantánamo Campaign thanks the wonderful people
who were involved in organising the event, our speakers for their work for
Guantánamo prisoners, and the excellent people who joined us, including the 25
who travelled from Brighton, the handful from Peterborough and activists from
Yorkshire.

We hope you will join us to make sure there is no anniversary
to mark next year. Please get involved in our upcoming activities, including
our demonstration next month to mark 7 years of our regular demonstration
outside the US Embassy and the first anniversary of the Guantánamo hunger
strike. We have some exciting plans for the year – watch this space and get
involved!

I'm very sorry I cannot be with
you today, but I am in Athens speaking on the health-care crisis in Greece -
another avoidable tragedy.
This is the 12th year of the existence of Guantanamo. Every year, we mark the
anniversary hoping it will be the last time. Hoping that those still detained
there will be released or charged and that those charged will be tried in a
public, civil court where all the evidence can be heard and tested.

The fact that Guantanamo remains open is a stain on the human rights record of
the United States. President Obama must fulfil his pledge to close the camp.

I welcome the recent, small progress. I welcome the decision of the Slovakian
Government to take 3 Uighur detainees and wish more EU governments would take
such action, as the European Parliament has repeatedly demanded.

The UK still has to bring Shaker Aamer home to his family in London. I still cannot
understand why this has not happened - he has been cleared for transfer, he has
not been charged - he should be here with those who love him.

Today's
demonstration is important. It shows that those held in Guantanamo are not
forgotten and that there are people who believe that international law must be
upheld and that human rights must be respected. Guantanamo must close.

Norman Baker MP (courtesy of Sara Birch, Brighton Amnesty):

It is deeply disappointing that Guantánamo Bay remains
open, and that large numbers of individuals have been held for years without
any proper legal justification, without charge and without trial. Naturally we
in the UK are particularly concerned about the continued detention of Shaker
Aamer, a concern only heightened by the state of his health.

As a government minister I can vouch for the fact that
our Foreign Office has actively and repeatedly raised the matter with the US
authorities but sadly without success.

I congratulate Amnesty and all the many individuals
across the party and of no party who keep the spotlight on this case, and call
upon Barack Obama, not just to release Shaker Aamer, but to honour his
commitment to close Guantánamo Bay and remove this stain from the United
States.

Shawki Ahmed Omar is an American citizen who has been
unjustly detained in the jails of Iraq for nine years. He has never been allowed
to see a lawyer or discuss his case. Furthermore, he is not allowed to contact
his family.

Three months ago, we were informed by the Red Cross that
my husband has been transferred to the infamous torture facility, Abu Ghraib.
We hold our breaths everyday as we hear about inmates dying under torture in
Abu Ghraib.

My husband had been on hunger strike for 6 months. As a
result, he now vomits blood and suffers from many illnesses; yet, he is not
even given the most basic medical care.

As we have no way of being reassured about his state so
long as he remains in that notorious place, our initial aim is to get him transferred
to a prison in the north of Iraq, where we can at least have a chance of
visiting him.

I ask every person and every organisation capable of
helping my husband to please help save what is left of his life.

Take action!

We hold a regular monthly demonstration calling for the closure of Guantánamo Bay. Our March demonstration is on Thursday 8 March at 12-2pm outside the US Embassy, 33 Nine Elms Ln, London SW11 7US: https://www.facebook.com/events/975903689224552/

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About Me

The London Guantánamo Campaign has been campaigning since 2006 for the return of all British residents from the Guantánamo Bay prison camp, the release of all prisoners, the closure of this prison and other similar prisons and an end to the practice of extraordinary rendition. Also on Facebook and Twitter.